Acts 21:17ff

Legalism without a Biblical warrant is dangerous.

Leadership of God’s people can go disastrously wrong at the top, with the underlings being better but too weak or afraid to effect the desperately needed change (Jer. 37). Or leadership may be weak or corrupt throughout the hierarchy, with the top figure too indecisive or too much of a wimp to clean things up. Saddest of all are the Christian institutions where weakness or corruption prevails at both levels.

Acts 21:17And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19And when he had saluted them, he rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of them that have believed; and they are all zealous for the law: 21and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses

The collection of the offering, which had consumed Paul for many months and endless miles of travel, was about to culminate in his long-anticipated arrival at Jerusalem. There he would present to the Jerusalem church that offering, which he had painstakingly received from the Gentile congregations of Asia Minor and Greece. Their substantial gift of love and gesture of unity would help meet the needs of the poor believers at Jerusalem and he hoped it would bring closer the Jewish and Gentile churches.

Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem marked the end of his missionary journeys.

Paul arrived in Jerusalem by the Day of Pentecost as he had planned (20:16). The brethren there received the apostle and his party gladly. They were pleased at the generous (2 Cor. 8:20) expression of love from the Gentile churches in the much-needed offering Paul and the others brought. But more significantly, they were overjoyed at the Gentile converts who accompanied Paul. They provided firsthand evidence of God’s gracious saving work throughout the Roman world.

After the initial, unofficial reception the following day Paul and the others went into James, and all the elders were present. This was the official reception by the leaders of the church. The mention of James and all the elders marks a significant change in that leadership.

Now the church was led by the elders alone; the apostles are not mentioned. At least one was already dead, James the brother of John (Acts 12:2).

After he had greeted the assembled elders, Paul began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. He recounted the things which God had
done among the Gentiles through his ministry. Paul humbly gave all the credit and glory to God. He saw himself only as an instrument God graciously called to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

Paul expressed his humility in his rebuke of the hero-worshiping Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:5–7

Paul’s God-centered report produced a corresponding response by the assembled elders. Instead of praising him, when they heard it, they began glorifying God.

Misguided Jewish Believers in Jerusalem

They said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.” (21:20b–22)

The joy of the Jerusalem leaders was mixed with concern. A potentially serious problem had developed, one they needed Paul’s help to resolve.

There were many among the Jews, who had believed who were all zealous for the Law. These were Jewish Christians who remained devoted to the ceremonial aspects of the law. While not viewing it as a means of salvation, they still observed its required feasts, Sabbath regulations, ritual vows and dietary restrictions.

They were still clinging to the customs and rituals of the Old Covenant.

The apostles and other leaders in the Jerusalem church did not oppose the continuation of these practices. Nowhere in the New Testament are Jewish believers condemned for observing them. In fact, Paul commands tolerance for such “weaker brothers” (Rom. 14:1ff.; 1 Cor. 8–10) until they grow to understand their freedom and can use it with clear consciences.
God Himself was tolerant during this period of transition, knowing how difficult it was for the Jewish Christians to break with their past. He also knew that in a few years this would no longer be a dominant issue in the church. After the Jewish revolt against Rome (A.D. 66–70), which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem, the influence of the Jerusalem church waned. Christianity gradually became a predominantly Gentile faith,

There is a Problem

James and the elders then set forth the specific problem that was troubling them. They warned Paul, “The zealots for the law have been told about you that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to walk according to the customs.”

This large group of zealous Jewish believers provided fertile soil for false teachers, Paul’s old nemeses the Judaizers. These bitter enemies of the gospel of grace had dogged Paul’s footsteps throughout his missionary journeys. He wrote Galatians largely to counter their dangerous false teachings. They denied that salvation is by grace through faith alone, insisting that keeping the Mosaic law was required for salvation ( Acts 15:1).

The phrase they have been told, they have been informed, indicates that these troubling reports were far more than mere rumors.

The underlying Greek verb translated informed, is where we get our English word “catechism,” implying learning by repetition.

The Judaizers had drilled their lies about Paul into the heads of the Jewish Christians. By claiming that Paul was teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to walk according to the customs, the Judaizers sought to destroy his credibility with the Hebrew Christian community, which still revered the Mosaic law.

This was a time of intense Jewish nationalism and political unrest. One insurrection after another rose to challenge the Roman overlords, and Felix brutally suppressed them all. This only increased the Jewish hatred for Rome and inflamed anti-Gentile sentiments. It was a time when pro-Jewish sentiment was at its height, and friendliness with outsiders was not good.

The allegations against Paul posed a serious threat to the Jerusalem church’s efforts to evangelize unbelieving Jews.

The Judaizer’s accusations were completely false.

Paul nowhere taught Jewish Christians to abandon their Jewish heritage. Like all habitual liars, they said whatever was expedient at the moment.

It is not surprising that the children of the father of lies resort to lies (John 8:44). Lies are one of the main ways Satan attacks the work of God. Believers should be slow to accept accusations against other Christians ( 1 Tim. 5:19), especially when such charges originate with opponents of the Christian faith.

The Plan to Solve the Problem

“Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses in order that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. (21:23–26)

The elders feared a confrontation between the apostle to the Gentiles and the misinformed zealots for the law. To head that off, they suggested a compromise—not a sacrifice of truth for expediency but an act of self-sacrificial humility to promote unity and understanding.

What it meant for Paul to purify himself along with the four is not clear.

A likely explanation is that Paul, having returned to Israel from Gentile lands, was considered ceremonially unclean. As their sponsor, Paul would participate in the ceremony marking the culmination of the four men’s vows. But before he could do that, he would have to undergo ritual purification himself. His willingness to do that would show that he had no disdain for Jewish customs and tradition.

A second way the apostle could show his continuing devotion to his Jewish heritage was to pay the four men’s expenses in order that they might shave their heads. Num. 6:14ff

James then added an important clarifying statement: “But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” By urging this course of action on Paul’s part, the elders were by no means abrogating the decree of the Jerusalem Council regarding Gentiles. They held to the fact these laws did not save anyone.

Paul agreed to the elders’ proposal. Doing so would not compromise biblical truth since, as Paul himself had written in Romans 14 and 15, such matters were issues of Christian liberty. In fact, Paul’s participation in the ceremony was an illustration of the principle he laid down in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23:

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.

Accordingly, Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple, giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them. So, began the chain of events that would culminate in the apostle’s arrest.

The Mob Attacks Paul

And when the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the multitude and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place (21:27–30)

The process of purification required Paul to visit the temple on the third and seventh days. On the latter visit, when the seven days were almost over, the apostle encountered some old enemies: Jews from the Roman province of Asia, in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. They were likely from Ephesus, since they recognized Trophimus, who was a resident of that city (v. 29). Since Paul had ministered in Ephesus for three years (Acts 20:31), they had no trouble recognizing him.

Upon seeing Paul in the temple, these enemies of the gospel wasted no time in seizing their opportunity. They immediately began to stir up all the vast multitude of devout pilgrims who were in the city for the festival.

Having laid hands on Paul, his assailants began crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid!” Acting as though Paul had committed an act of blasphemy, they called for help in dealing with it.

To substantiate these general accusations, Paul’s accusers came up with a specific one, crying out to the crowd “he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

That was a clear lie. Paul would have had to bring Trophimus past the court of the Gentiles, the only place where Gentiles were permitted. But that would have cost Trophimus his life, since the Romans allowed the Jews to execute any Gentile who entered there, even Roman citizens (cf. Josephus Wars 6.2.4).

An inscription, found in 1935, solemnly warns, “No Gentile shall enter within the partition and barrier surrounding the temple, and whoever is caught shall be responsible to himself for his subsequent death”

Also, if the Asian Jews had really seen Trophimus there, why had they not seized him then and executed him?
Soon all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together to the vicinity of the temple. Determined to appear as if they desired to protect that sacred place from further defilement, they seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. The temple guards shoved the frenzied mob outside (so Paul’s death would not defile the temple; and then closed the doors (between the Court of the Women and the Court of the Gentiles).

Their religious zeal inflamed by the false accusations of the Asian Jews, infuriated, the irrational crowd began savagely beating Paul. Too impatient to drag him out of the city and stone him as had been done with Stephen, they intended to beat the apostle to death on the spot.

Paul is Arrested

And while they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. And at once he took along some soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them; And when he got to the stairs, it so happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; for the multitude of the people kept following behind, crying out, “Away with him!” (21:31–36)

The leader was a Roman cohort of one thousand men stationed at Fort Antonia. The Fort was actually joined at the temple wall, very close, to keep an eye on the temple court. Luke gives his name as Claudius Lysias. He was the ranking Roman official in Jerusalem when the governor was not in the city.

This massive show of force broke up the riot and saved Paul’s life. When the crowd saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul,
Because Paul was evidently the cause of the disturbance and must have done something very serious to excite the Jews to such fury, Lysias arrested him. He assumed that Paul was an Egyptian terrorist. He ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks. There he intended to question the apostle in private and, if necessary, use torture to extract a confession.

The soldiers began escorting Paul through the crowd, and when he got to the stairs, it so happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. The Romans had lifted Paul up and transported him above the mob to the stairs. In mindless fury, losing all sense of fear for Roman soldiers, the crowd pushed and shoved, trying desperately to get at him. All the while they kept crying out, “Away with him!” that is, “kill him”.

Paul Speaks

And as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,